Police take ’43’ attempts to smash down a suspected drug dealer’s door

Cops took FORTY-THREE tries to break down a suspected drug dealer’s front doorBemused neighbours filmed on their mobiles and chuckled as at least 10 officers spent more than two minutes trying to force their way in during a dawn raid.

A crowd gathered as the cops huffed and puffed with a battering ram before the terraced house’s uPVC door eventually gave way.

An onlooker said: “It was extraordinary. You half expected them to just give up and go back to the nick.

“It was like something from a police comedy.”

Officers are normally expected to take as few as four or five attempts to break down a door - or risk losing the element of surprise and allowing criminals to dispose of vital evidence.

The bizarre scene unfolded when officers scrambled to a home in Abbey Wood, south east London at 5.30am on Wednesday.